United States coronavirus death toll surpasses 41,000

Washington: The United States coronavirus death toll climbed by 1,629 in 24 hours to reach 41,186 on Sunday evening, latest statistics show. Confirmed cases of the highly infectious illness also soared to a total of 771,980, an increase of 25,596 from the day before.

The ominous milestone came as Harvard researchers warned that if the country hopes to permanently open back up any time soon, then coronavirus testing efforts must increased nationwide by at least 500,000 people per day.

Currently the nation is testing at a far less efficient rate of only 150,000 people per day. Only 3,865,864 Americans have been tested in total, little over one percent of the US total population.'

If we can't be doing at least 500,000 tests a day by May 1, it is hard to see any way we can remain open,' experts from the Harvard Global Health Institute warned.

Meanwhile, healthcare workers clashed with anti lockdown protesters in Colorado on Sunday, defiantly standing in front of the cars of demonstrators who flocked to the state Capitol in their hundreds to urge Gov. Jared Polis to lift COVID-19-induced stay-at-home orders. Protests against state lockdowns implemented to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak continued nationwide this afternoon, as a fervent disdain for the restrictions that have shut down much of the country's economy continues to slowly spread across the US.

Titled 'Operation Gridlock', the day's largest demonstration took place in Denver, where hundreds of protesters ignored social distancing guidelines to huddle together on the lawn of the state Capitol, waving flags emblazoned with slogans such as 'Your "health" does not supersede my right', 'Freedom over fear', and 'I would rather risk coronavirus than socialism'.

Mobilised by a number of groups on social media, the protesters called Gov. Polis a tyrant and insisted the ongoing economic cost of the shutdown was no longer worth the few lives it would save, a DailyMail report said. But the protesters' efforts weren't met without resistance. A group of healthcare workers stood in the street, clad in their scrubs and facemasks, to counter-protest the calls for re-opening, silently obstructing cars as they drove down towards the Capitol.

Contrary to the warnings, several states are looking to lift lockdown orders and return to normalcy as soon as possible. But for some, action is not being taken quickly enough. Hundreds-strong crowds gathered in Colorado, Tennessee, Oregon, Illinois, California, Montana and Washington State on Sunday to protest state lockdown measures, as a fervent disdain for the restrictions that have shut down much of the country's economy continues to slowly spread across the US.

Conducted by Dr. Ashish Jha, faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, Dr. Thomas Tsai, and Benjamin Jacobson, the research on the testing shortfall also warned the number of positive tests must significantly decrease before lockdowns can be lifted.

Currently in the US, 20 per cent of those who are tested for coronavirus test positive. The World Health Organisation has said that to reopen, that number should be between 3 per cent to 12 per cent.

As part of its three-part guideline released last week, the White House instructed that states who have seen a continued decrease in cases over a two week period can commence the first phase of reopening.

However, experts have long said that the major determining factor behind any governor's decision to reopen their economies should be testing.